Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1887-07-07
THE GOLD-sNAKEMINE.

strength. She was as full of super
stitlon and belief in ghosts and spirits
as an egg is full OF meat. She was
nice and lady like, and she had a
curiously soft voice. When she was
l6 joaquin Costello fell in love with |
hery-Hs played the guitar opposite
her window steadily for FIVE weeks be /
smoked cigarritos in front of the house
while talking to her father, old Pedro
Munoz, and he was finally accepted as
her prospective husband. Now the
last person, to expect. that Tereno
would object to anything her father
had arranged for her, was old Pedro
himself When, then, he announced
to her that she was to look upon
Joaquin Costello as her master for the
future, and she made scene, there
was what might pass for row IN that
cabin. OF course old Pedro stormed:
and Of course her mother sat on the
clay floor in what might be called
silent misery, and finally Senonta
Tereno won. She would not she was
not.
Tereno had, among her other queer
beliefs, full confidence in the gold
snake. This is the funniest supersti-
tion that you can imagine. If you
find species OF snake, something like
blacksnake, but with yellow bars on
the back, anywhere down on the
Mexican border, and then you find
where the snake lives, you can find
ledge of quartz containing free gold.
Tereno believed this, and she knew
where one of the gold snakes lived,
She kept the secret carefully-at least
until Henry Brown arrived there with
his team of mules frelghting over the
old southern trail. Red Head, as
Mr.. Brown was ordinarily called, was
pronounced blonde. He met Tereno,
and Tereno met him, and the two fell
in love with each other. In fact, they
liked each other so much that Mr.
Brown attempted to learn the guitar,
though be had no fingers fit for the
work, and had not the least scintilla of
music in his soul; and ofall persons on
this earth be selected Senior joaquin
Costello as teacher. joaquin grinned
and made cigarritos rapidly when he
understood what Mr.. Brown had come
to him for. He agreed, however, at
once to give the lessons, and he sug-
gested they should take place at Senor
Munoz's house. The spectacle of Mr..
Browns work on the guitar under the
instruction of Senior Costello, with
Tereno looking on, would have moved
a bronze statute to tears.
The curious part of the thing was
that Tereno could play the guitar her
self and play it well. The number-of
times that girl tried to get Mr.. Brown
to practice the instrument when she
could tell him when he was wrong
could not be told. Unfortunately Mr..
Brown, in bull-headed kind of way,
had made up his mind that he would
learn the thing by the ali of Senior
| Costello's instructions, and as it was
impossible for Tereno to tell him that
Juaquln had wanted her to marry him
only two years before, the lessons went
on as per agreement.
AS might have been expected, Jua'
quin had made up his mind that the
mules which Henry Brown owned
we're worth having, and he made few
cautius inquiries. Finding that Mr.
Brown did not understand monte
| Senior Costello invited him to play
For the first two weeks Mr.. Brown
won, and he told Tereno about his
uck. AS she knew monte. and also
know Joaquin, she urged upon Mr.
Brown the wisdom of letting the game
alone. He laughed at her, as he often
did, and told her he could take care
of himself.
/ Unfortunately one evening after the
lesson on the guitar, joaquin and
Harry left the Munoz cabin and walk
ed down to the funda, They sat down
at monte, and had plenty of mescal
brandy on the table, At first Harry
won, but as the game went on the
luck changed. 1t is fact that if a
man will play monte and drink enough
mescal at the same time, he is apt tc
lose his head. Mr.. Brown lost biz
sight, then all his money, then hN
watch, then his pocket knife, and thel
his mules.
| The next morning when Mr.. Brown
got up he drained the water Jug and
| dressed. Going down stairs he
wandered into the courtyard and gazed
| with sorrowful expression upon
| those mules joaquin was harnessing
them up at the time, and Mr.. Brown
watched them driven out of the gate
to the road. The greater part Of the
day he spent incoming around the
hillside, and he refreshed himself at
intervals practicing on the guitar.
i When Mr.. Brown went around in
the evening as usual old Pedro asked
him to discontinue his visits. When
Mr.. Brown asked, 'Porque, senorl' he
was briefly but emphatically informed
that any man who would put up q
Itaaro of n,r1ae IN q panoa with Sonor